Envelop.



No. 66|,064. Patentod Nov. 6, |900. F. M. MEBBIDEW.

Nu. s6|,os4. Patented nov. s, |900. F. n. msnmnsw.

ENVELUP.

(Application mm1A nu.' v. 1900.) v (Ho Model.) {Sheets-Sheet 2.

WIT/VESSES Y [NVE/WOR Mam /M Arron/ms TME uonms PETERS co.. rinoToA-Ll'mo.. wAsNINaToN. b. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS MELVILLE MERRIDEW, OF BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, FRAN-CE.

ENvELoP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,064; dated November 6, 1900.

Appncanon mea March 7, 1900. sel-in No. 7,637. LN@ man T0 a/ZZ whom t may concern:

v Be it known that I, FRANCIS vMELVILLE MERRIDEW, a subject of the Queen of Great' Britain, residing at Boulogne sur Mer,

France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelops, of which the' following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in'the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This in ven tion relates to envelops ;V and the upon a letter destined for a foreign country, l

thus meetingthe demands of the projected international reply-postage-stamp system.

My invention consists of an envelop which may be of integral formation; and the gist of my invention consists ofan auxiliary flap which is normally housed within the envelop and may be projected therefrom and secured to one face of the envelop to form a sealing device, whereby after the envelop has been opened it may be again closed up to carry a second or reply letter. The return postagestamp is secured to the rear of the envelop, and when the auxiliary flap is secured in operative position to seal the envelop for the return of the letter it is caused to cover the front of the envelop and obscure partially or entirely the original address.

My invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter specified.

-In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which like reference characters denote like parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a front view of an envelop constructed according to myinvention and showing the auxiliary flap in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof; Fig. 3, a rear view thereof, showing the return postage-stamp and showing the au'xiliary flap in dotted lines; Eig. 4, a front view of the envelop with the auxiliary flap in operative position; Fig. 5, a rear view of the envelop with the auxiliary flap in operative 'position and showing the return postage-stamp connected with the rear iiap, and Fig. 6 a plan view of a blank of which the envelop isv formed upon I the envelop and the purpose of which has hereinbefore been set forth. 'lhe auxiliary ap 14 is' folded upon the score-line 14a. (Shown in Fig. 6.) Connected withihe lower portion of the part 10 kof the envelopl by means of an intermediate strip'v15 -is a flap.

16, which forms the lower rear portion of the envelop. In folding the several parts of the envelop to produce a complete article the aps 13 and 12 are folded together, as shown in the several views of the drawings, and the strip 15 is folded centrally upon the scoreline 15a, bringing the inner edge portion of the Hap 16, which is denoted by the scoreline 16a in Fig. 6, into registration with the lower edge portion of the envelop part 10, and the liap 16 is then directed,upwardly and secured to the flaps 12 and 13, exteriorly thereof, thus producing the lcompleted envelop shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings. n

It is noted that the iiaps 11, 12, and 16, strip 15, and auxiliary Hap 14 are all suitably provided with mucilage or other adhesive snbstance, as shown by the dotted areas 17 in Fig. 6, and in folding the several parts above described to produce the complete envelop these adhesive areas are caused to engage with the parts against which they are folded, excepting the adhesive parts of the flap 11 and auxiliary flap 14, the former of which constitutes the securing- Hap of the envelop or the part which is secured to the rear of the envelop after the contents thereof have been inserted thereinto, and the latter of which is simply folded upwardly within the envelop upon the lscore-line 14a and is not brought into use until the envelop has been opened and is again closed for its re- IOO turn. The strip 15 is entirely Coated with the adhesive substance 17, and its line of connection with the part 10 of the envelop at 15b is perforated, as well as is the score-line 16, whereby when the envelop is in folded position said strip 15 may be torn from the body" of the envelop, thus allowing; the oontents to be withdrawn therefrom. When this has been done, the flap 16 will still be engaged with the body of the envelop by means of its adhesive eoating, and the anxiliary fit-1p 14 may be drawn down and brought up into position in engagement with the front of the envelop or the front of the part 10 (shown in Fig. 4) and secured to said part by meansofitsadhesive coating 17. Theenvelop is thus again effeetually sealed and may be returned with its contents.

The sending or forwarding stamp 18 is inipressed upon the front surface of the part l0 of the envelop in the usual or any desired position, and the return-stamp 19 is imposed upon the Hap 11, which forms a part of the rear portion of the envelop, or upon any other suitable portion of the envelop. When the envelop is ret-urned,the stam p 1S has of course been canceled, and the stamp 19 will have remained uncaneeled and of full value to defray oost of return carriage.

It is evident thatl the envelop above described presents material advantages over those at'present in use, as a supplementary closure is carried thereby for return transmission, hidden within the envelop. Further, a single envelop may aeoording to myinvention do double service, and the sender or original transmitter of the envelop may be able to prepay replypostage for the return thereof, thus avoiding the necessity of the original addressee afftxing a return-stamp.

I do not limit myself to the specific construction and arrangement of parts herein set forth, but reserve the right to vary the same within the scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- An envelop, com prisinga main or front portion 10, laterally-direoted flaps 12 and 13 con neeted therewith and one of which is provided at its lower edge port-ion with an auxiliary flap 14, said main or front portion being provided at its upper edge with a projeetiner iap 11, and at its lower edge with a detachable strip 15, with the lower edge of which is oonneeted a ap 16, said tiaps 11, 12 and 1G being provided with adhesive material, and said strip 15 and auxiliary flap 14 being also thus provided, the relative arrangement. and oonstruetion of part-s being such that when said flaps 12, 13 and 16 are folded and secured together, and said strip 15 is folded upon itself, said auxiliary flap 14 will lie within the resultant envelop, said Iiap 11 beiner arranged to be folded and connected with the remainder of the envelop to effeetually seal the same, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of February, 1900.

FRANCIS ME liVlLLE MER-RIDE W.

Witnesses:

B. DUCAMP, J. CAUX. 

